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TEPZZ￥5￥7_76A_T
(11)
EP3 537 176A1
(12)
(43)Date of publication:
EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION
(51)Int Cl.:
G01S13/95(2006.01)G01S13/42(2006.01)
G01S7/41(2006.01)
11.09.2024Bulletin2024/37
(21)Application number: 19160658.1(22)Date of filing: 04.03.2024(84)Designated Contracting States:
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TRDesignated Extension States: BA ME
Designated Validation States: KH MA MD TN
(72)Inventors:
?BADIN, Pavel
Morris Plains, NJ New Jersey 07950 (US)?VACANTI, David C.
Morris Plains, NJ New Jersey 07950 (US)?LUKAS, Jan
Morris Plains, NJ New Jersey 07950 (US)
(74)Representative: Houghton, Mark Phillip
(30)Priority:06.03.2024US 202415913155(71)Applicant: Honeywell International Inc.
Morris Plains, NJ New Jersey 07950 (US)
Patent Outsourcing Limited Cornerhouse 1 King StreetBakewell
Derbyshire DE45 1DZ (GB)
(54)(57)
ICE CRYSTAL DETECTION BY WEATHER RADAR
ing circuitry is also configured to determine a temporalvariance in reflectivity magnitudes based on determininga difference in reflectivity between the first magnitudeand the second magnitude. In some examples, theprocessing circuitry is further configured to determine apresence of ice crystals based on the first magnitude ofreflectivity, the second magnitude of reflectivity, and thetemporal variance in reflectivity magnitudes.
In some examples, a system includes a weather
radar device configured to transmit radar signals, receivefirst reflected radar signals at a first time, and receivesecond reflected radar signals at a second time. In someexamples, the system also includes processing circuitryconfigured to determine a first magnitude of reflectivitybased on the first reflected radar signals and determinea second magnitude of reflectivity based on the secondreflected radar signals. In some examples, the process-
EP3 537 176A1Printed by Jouve, 75001 PARIS (FR)
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EP3 537 176A12
DescriptionTECHNICAL FIELD[0001]
This disclosure relates to weather radar.
BACKGROUND
[0002]A weather radar device may be configured todetect the reflectivity of particles in the air, which mayinclude water molecules. In general, liquid water dropletsin the air may have higher reflectivity than water mole-cules that are frozen as ice crystals in the air. In someexamples, partially melted snow, partially melted icecrystals, or partially frozen liquid water droplets may havehigher reflectivity than completely melted liquid waterdroplets or completed frozen ice crystals.
[0003]If the temperature of the air near the surface ofthe earth is greater than the freezing temperature of wa-ter, water molecules in the air may be liquid up to analtitude known as the melting layer. At altitudes that arehigher than the melting layer, water molecules in the airmay be frozen as snow or ice. In some examples, theremay be a range of altitudes below the melting layer atwhich water molecules in the air may be partially meltedand/or partially frozen. This range of altitudes may beknown as the bright band because of the higher reflec-tivity of the water molecules in the bright band.
[0004]Separate from the bright band, the melting layermay also be an important consideration for vehicles. Icecrystals may be present in the air at altitudes above themelting layer, and these ice crystals may interfere withthe operation of vehicles. For example, the ice crystalsat altitudes above the melting layer may disrupt the op-eration of aircraft engines. The ice crystals may also dis-rupt the operation of sensors mounted on aircraft flyingabove the melting layer. The liquid water present in astorm cloud may travel upwards to the melting layer,where the liquid water may freeze to form ice crystals.Therefore, higher quantities of ice crystals may exist justabove the melting layer in and around storm clouds, in-cluding high altitudes in and around storm clouds, ascompared to other locations above the melting layer.SUMMARY
[0005]This disclosure is directed to systems, devices,and methods for detecting the presence of ice crystals.A weather radar device may be configured to transmitand receive radar signals at a first time and a secondtime. Processing circuitry may be configured to deter-mine a first magnitude of reflectivity for the first time anda second magnitude of reflectivity for the second time.The processing circuitry may be configured to determinethe presence of ice crystals based on at least two meas-urements of reflectivity magnitude. In some examples,the determination of the presence of ice crystals mayalso be based on the difference between the first mag-
nitude of reflectivity and the second magnitude of reflec-tivity.
[0006]In one example, a system includes a weatherradar device configured to transmit radar signals, receive5
first reflected radar signals at a first time, and receivesecond reflected radar signals at a second time. The sys-tem also includes processing circuitry configured to de-termine a first magnitude of reflectivity based on the firstreflected radar signals and determine a second magni-10
tude of reflectivity based on the second reflected radarsignals. The processing circuitry is also configured to de-termine a temporal variance in reflectivity magnitudesbased on determining a difference in reflectivity betweenthe first magnitude and the second magnitude. The15
processing circuitry is further configured to determine apresence of ice crystals based on the first magnitude ofreflectivity, the second magnitude of reflectivity, and thetemporal variance in reflectivity magnitudes.
[0007]In another example, a method includes trans-20
mitting radar signals, receiving first reflected radar sig-nals at a first time, and receiving second reflected radarsignals at a second time. The method also includes de-termining a first magnitude of reflectivity based on thefirst reflected radar signals and determining a second25
magnitude of reflectivity based on the second reflectedradar signals. The method further includes determininga temporal variance in reflectivity magnitudes based ondetermining a difference in reflectivity between the firstmagnitude and the second magnitude. The method in-30
cludes determining a presence of ice crystals based onthe first magnitude of reflectivity, the second magnitudeof reflectivity, and the temporal variance in reflectivitymagnitudes.
[0008]Another example is directed to a device includ-35
ing a computer-readable medium having executable in-structions stored thereon, configured to be executableby one or more processors for causing the one or moreprocessors to cause a weather radar device to transmitradar signals, receive first reflected radar signals at a first40
time, and receive second reflected radar signals at a sec-ond time. The executable instructions further cause theone or more processors to determine a first magnitudeof reflectivity based on the first reflected radar signalsand determine a second magnitude of reflectivity based45
on the second reflected radar signals. The executableinstructions also cause the one or more processors todetermine a temporal variance in reflectivity magnitudesbased on determining a difference in reflectivity betweenthe first magnitude and the second magnitude. The ex-50
ecutable instructions cause the one or more processorsto determine a presence of ice crystals based on the firstmagnitude of reflectivity, the second magnitude of reflec-tivity, and the temporal variance in reflectivity magni-tudes.
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[0009]The details of one or more examples are setforth in the accompanying drawings and the descriptionbelow. Other features, objects, and advantages will beapparent from the description and drawings, and from
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EP3537176A1天气雷达冰晶探测[专利] - 图文
